Spring is springing

Spring is always such a welcome relief from the drearies of winter, though our friends who live in the mountains of the northwest would argue that we never really have winter down here. There's something about spring mornings and evenings that seems to breath new life into everything. The birds and frogs are louder, the new grass is greener and the new leaves on the trees are greener still. The aroma in the air from the flowering trees is intoxicating and makes yard work seem like holiday fare. The heat of July will bring us back into reality in that department!

It's also one of the busiest times for us. New Leanin' Tree paintings are going in the studio and new art is being pulled, evaluated, captioned and selected for the t-shirt line, the Back 40. This year, we've added even more projects - like writing two books and getting the online store stocked and marketed.

It's fun and exciting and demanding and chaotic. Just getting everything we have to do in some kind of doable order is a challenge. Mike, obviously, is the only one who can do the paintings so he's safe from a lot of the hum drum stuff like scanning, sizing, and cataloging the art. But he still has to cut and prepare boards for the new pieces, sketch them on paper and then sketch them again on the boards - so I guess you could say we each have our share of routine work.

It can all be pretty overwhelming. But there's nothing better for clearing your mind than cranking up the old riding lawn mower and mowing for an hour or crawling around a flower bed, pulling weeds. It's just you, God and nature.

Works every time.

In like a Lion...

So . . . Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day for March 2nd; bright sunshine and warm winds that were bringing in a cold front and rain that night and into Monday. It was a perfect day to work outside so Mike decided to put in his ceremonial grape vineyard. He has about fifteen plants and we had some left over landscaping timbers so he grabbed the post hole diggers and started stabbing the ground. Within minutes, his post hold diggers severed our phone lines. Clean cut straight through.

Okay, so we put on our parkas and stand on the front porch between the 4th and 5th post (which is where reception is the best) for the next two days until Verizon can get out here to repair the lines. No problem.

Saturday, I got a letter from my health insurance company saying they were raising my premium by $50 a month which was most definitely not in my budget plans. I'm still paying off my hospital bills from last year, for goodness sake!

Then tonight, a department store where we bought our TV and paid the balance off last August called and said my payment was late. "But wait," I said, "we paid that off last year and you gave us the payoff amount." Hmmmm....okay, let me check. Well, yes, I see where you called for the payoff, which was $578.04 and you paid $578.04 with a phone check that day." I'm smiling that told-you-so smile on my end of the phone when he says, but it looks like they gave you the wrong amount. My calculations show you still owe $300 on this account." After much discussion, the caller promised to check it out and get back to me tomorrow. Argh!!!

I'm a pretty happy go lucky gal and anyone who knows me will say I always look for the good in people and the positive side to every situation. But, my happy go lucky isn't feeling so happy or so lucky today.

It's going to be okay though. The nice Verizon man came today and fixed the phones (which made it possible for the department store guy to call) so at least I can talk on the phone in the house if it turns cold again.

I'm sure everything will work out fine. In fact, I'm grateful for what we do have. Everybody needs a few days like the last two so they can be be thankful for all the rest!